Texas A&M has ideal matchup against Houston as they chase Sweet 16
Texas A&M has an underrated chance at pulling off yet another upset against the top-five-ranked Houston Cougars.
After upsetting the towering St. Mary’s in the Round of 64, the Texas A&M Aggies face the Houston Cougars in the second round, a rematch of the 2024 March Madness game fans remember all too well. As the 2 seed facing a 10 seed, Houston is the widespread favorite.
The Cougars rank fifth in the country in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings, boasting the fourth-best adjusted defense and the 13th-best adjusted offense. Like the elite UH teams of old, their squad features length and energetic defenders, relying on an elite guard to run their offense (freshman phenom Kingston Flemings). Houston and St.
Mary’s have an interesting parallel: both teams play with an incredibly slow pace. The Gaels’ 64. 9 adjusted tempo ranks 310th in the NCAA, while the Cougars grind games to an even slower 63.
4 adjusted tempo (ranks 350th; 16th-slowest team in the nation). This stems from both teams’ heavy emphasis on crashing the boards. The Gaels rank 12th in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage, according to Bart Torvik, while the Cougars rank 35th in the same measure.